LOCATION: Wall Rose: 104th Cadet Corps

Year: 847

It had been two months since the night of the bonfire. Three months into their training. It seemed to have become a routine to have these sorts of hangouts once a month, with Nack and Daz joining in for the later two sessions. Relationships, both good and bad, had been formed.

Rex had found himself forming a close friendship with Mina and Thomas. The three of them had apparently made an agreement of sorts, to compare their progress at the end of the year, so how much they'd grown, changed. The short teen also seemed to have… something with Ymir. The two would oftentimes be seen having civil conversations with each other, almost always out of earshot, but it was also made clear that if anything, the two had a mutual dislike of each other.

Deacon was known as the local jokester among the 104th. While Connie and Sasha were the class clowns, Deacon was the ringleader, and at times, the three of them could be seen making jokes and pulling pranks upon their comrades. Though, they wisely avoided John, after successfully pulling a prank that involved a bag of flour and a slingshot within the boys barracks.

John had paid them all back a little more… directly.

It was best to leave it at that.

Mikasa's slowly growing friends group had also grown to include Sasha along with Christa, and there were a few times that the three could be seen doing many different activities and jobs alone. There was even a time the two of them had managed to convince the oriental to help with a make-up session involving Mina… though that was an activity that wasn't for her, she had decided.

Eren and Armin seemed to have grown a bond with Reiner and Bertholdt, mainly involving their shared drive to return to their homes within Wall Maria. Reiner played the big brother role, being the teasing older sibling to his comrades while also being helpful, giving them tips and tricks during their assignments for training if he could.

John and Christa's friendship was going strong, despite the blunder of the first bonfire. As a matter of fact, it was as if the kiss between them had never happened. With time, it seemed that the memory of the kiss faded from the 104th entirely, though that most likely had something to do with the fact that it made both John and Christa uncomfortable, and John usually followed up discomfort with anger, they had learned.

John fulfilled the big brother role alongside Reiner, and it was probably just as easy for him to be seen that way due to his sheer size. He could be seen helping anyone who asked or he felt needed it, whether it was combat tips, ODM tips, or even just simple exercise tips. He was also admittedly notorious for his complete flip depending on the assignment. Depending on the goal, he'd leave you in the dust, or stay behind and keep you one step ahead of him to help out.

John and Christa had spent a lot of time with each other over the past couple of months, just like they had with their other friends, but when Christa was on stable duty, John was almost always joining her at the stables once finished with his own duties. Slowly, they learned more about each other, opening up in ways that they hadn't quite been able to with the other cadets.

Christa had learned of his little sister, Lucy, and John had learned that Christa's favorite thing to do back home was to tend to the animals. That was why she was so good at stable duty.

Oftentimes, the two would fall into a routine when clearing out the stables. Christa would handle the main duties involving the animals, such as feeding them and bathing them, while John handled most of the manual labor, like storing the hay bales and cleaning out the stables of undesirables.

Sometimes they'd talk the whole time, sometimes a comfortable silence would fill the air. But either way, they were both content with the other's presence, and Christa appreciated John's help immensely.

At the moment, they were currently finishing up their duties. Well… John was.

"And this is why I hate horse shit." John's face was scrunched in disgust as he finally finished shoveling out the manure into the bucket so it could be taken to be… disposed of or turned into fertilizer, whichever they preferred.

Christa giggled as she watched John pick up the bucket and leave the stable, allowing her to bring the horse back to its stall while he set it in it's designated area. "I told you could do it if you wanted me too." She reminded him as she guided the horse into the stall.

"Nah, it's no problem." John said, waving off her words with a small smile as he retrieved his blue button up and cadet jacket, which he had removed in order to avoid damaging or staining them as he cleaned out the stalls. "It's the stench that gets me."

Christa shook her head in amusement as she undid her ponytail, allowing her hair to once more flow freely now that she was finished. "You wouldn't have lasted a year back home."

"No, probably not." John outright admitted with a chuckle. "Probably would go nuts having to do this shit every day."

Christa raised an eyebrow at John's words. "I get stable duty four times a week, and where are you once you are done with your stuff?" She teased him, causing him to shake his head as he put his button up back on.

"I got you here with me." John retorted with a playful smile. "So I have something to actually enjoy."

Christa smiled at John's words, before nodding her head towards the direction of the barracks. "We better get back." She said as John threw his jacket back on. "I'd like to have some dinner before bed."

"It's not that late, woman." John replied with a small smirk. "We still got four hours till dinner, and six till lights out." He informed her with a raised eyebrow. "You're talking like we're gonna starve."

"My bad." Christa said as she began the trek towards the barracks, John moved to walk next to her. "Maybe I'm just a little hungry already."

John rolled his eyes at Christa's words, a playful smile on his face. "What, you gonna be the next Potato Girl?" He teased her. "It's a wonder Sasha hasn't gotten caught stealing any more food. We all know she does it."

Christa nodded, giggling at the reminder. "She is from Dauper. She probably knows how to steal some food and not get caught."

John raised an eyebrow at Christa's words. "Dauper's a hunting village."

"I said food, not anything else." Was Christa's response. Her eyes wandered towards the cliffside, where she could see the lake shining under the light of the sun. "That's a nice view." She remarked.

John turned his gaze to follow her own, and he smiled as he saw the site for himself. "Yeah, it is." He agreed, before turning to look down at her. "Sometimes I wonder if that lake is even used for anything."

"I mean, it is a water source." Christa reminded John as she turned to look at him. "It's a pretty neat place to see, too."

John continued eyeing the lake for a moment, before he turned to look at Christa. "Armin had this book. Technically, it was outlawed because of the whole taboo thing with the outside world, but basically, it was supposed to be these different things out there. One of them was this thing called an ocean."

"An ocean?" Christa asked in confusion. "What's an ocean?"

"It's supposed to be the biggest body of water on the planet." John answered with a smile, watching as her eyes lit up in wonder at the prospect. "According to that book, it covers most of the planet. There's so much that it's impossible to run out."

"That sounds amazing." Christa admitted, her mind whirling with the different possibilities if such a large body of water existed. She was curious now about what else this book talked about. "What else did the book have?"

"Fiery water pops to mind." John admitted with a smile. "Land masses made completely out of ice, and more life than we could ever believe. There's this one animal that I remember Armin telling me about in the book, called a bear."

"What's it supposed to be?" Christa asked, tilting her head in curiosity. It was a little tick John had noticed she'd had, and he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't amused by it.

"It's a big mammal. Apparently there's different variations, but the biggest ones can get up to eight, nine feet. Weigh about a thousand pounds." John explained the animal he'd seen in the book. "Real sharp teeth, huge claws, and enough strength to over power any normal man."

Christa flinched at the image the description created in her head. "That sounds scary, honestly."

"Here's the thing, they're actually peaceful creatures." John revealed, to Christa's surprise. "They only attack when under threat or their territory is invaded. Apparently they got really soft fur and will often walk right up to you without any sort of risk outside of their territory."

"Huh… sounds like a dog." Christa admitted, glancing up at John with a smile. "And it also sounds a lot like you."

"Me?" That caught John off-guard, and he let out a chuckle in response. "How so?"

"You're big. You said you'd be eight feet when you're done growing." Christa began, smiling up at the giant. "You're probably the strongest person in the cadets, maybe even in the walls, and you're really nice till you get angry." She gave John a playful look at that last remark.

"Hey, those three deserved that ass kicking during combat practice." John defended himself with a chuckle. "And it's not like I actually injured any of them."

Christa raised an eyebrow.

"Much."

Christa let a laugh escape her at that, and John himself felt his smile grow even more as he too began chuckling.

The two continued their trek back towards the barracks in a comfortable silence.

"I think I should've chosen someone else as my sparring partner." Armin groaned as he tried to soothe his aching shoulder. He'd had the unfortunate luck of being Mikasa's sparring partner.

He loved her to death… but it wasn't easy for her to hold back. Especially since she focuses more on Eren's wellbeing than the actual combat practice.

Ever since combat training had started, a notable few had developed reputations for their combat skill. Mikasa was a notoriously tough fighter in spite of her somewhat small frame, but Armin knew better than most how strong she actually was.

Annie was the most skilled, without a doubt. Her techniques were unique, and no one had really seen her fighting style before. It had even thrown John off-guard, and he had probably faced more fighters than anyone here. Though, with his added weight and the height difference, even Annie admitted it was difficult to effectively use them on the giant.

Deacon had also developed a reputation among combat training, to many of the cadet's surprise. Though, Armin supposed it made sense. Annie was skilled, Mikasa was strong, John was big. Deacon, however, was fast.

It was notoriously difficult to actually hit the speedster, which made sense. Meanwhile, he could land attacks on you with surprisingly focused precision. Ymir had learned the hard way that if Deacon hits you, you will feel it. Probably was more irritating considering Deacon made a habit of goading his opponents into trying to hit him, knowing they had no chance.

Something he had explained to them once, was that his reaction speed was immense. He could alter his perception of time if he chose, but his brain simply worked that fast. To anyone else, he was just that good. To him, everyone is just slow.

Though to be fair, one person had actually managed to snag him, and people learned very quickly that once Big John Gallagher got a grip on you, the fight's already over.

For him, it was gentle, Armin knew, but John had a habit of slamming his opponents and knocking the wind out of their sails. And admittedly, it was probably better than being punched by him. Especially considering all it would take is a slip up, a loss of concentration, a bad bruise would be the least of anyone's worries.

But it didn't make it any less painful.

However, in hand to hand combat, when he was holding back, he wasn't unbeatable.

Though difficult, Annie's techniques had worked on the behemoth, though those ones focused more on turning his momentum against him more than they did on taking out his legs. John's legs were probably the strongest muscles in his body, and outside of lifting him (Good luck with that), Armin had never seen anything budge him when he didn't want to be moved.

Annie, Mikasa, Deacon, and John. They were probably the four people who were actively avoided during combat training these days, to the point it was rare for them to spar with anyone but each other.

"How do you think I feel?" Jean remarked to Armin, rubbing his head as he recalled his own sparring partner. "I got with Ross, and not only was it irritating, but he knocked me out by accident. Ross, of all people."

"Deacon's tougher than people think." Armin remarked with a sigh as he glanced towards Jean. "Believe me, if he actually wanted to hurt anyone, he could."

"Doesn't make me feel better." Jean grumbled with a shake of his head.

"What's up with you two?"

The voice of the resident giant caught their attention, and they turned to find John and Christa returning to the stables, a look of concern on Christa's face and one of confusion on John's.

"Sparring practice." Armin explained. "I had Mikasa, he had Deacon." He added, nodding towards Jean.

John visibly winced, imagining how that must've went down. "That couldn't have been fun."

"Are you two okay?" Christa asked, concern evident in her tone as she looked at them. "Anything I can do?"

John had to suppress a chuckle at the way Jean and Armin stared at Christa for a moment, but the two finally responded.

"No, we're fine." Armin reassured her. "Hurting a little, but that comes with training." He let out a small hiss as he rubbed his aching shoulder. "Mikasa hits hard."

"That she does." Christa visibly winced as she realized how Armin had gotten his injury. She too knew better than most what it was like to spar with the oriental. "You sure there's nothing I can do to help?" She asked once more.

"Yeah, we're fine." Jean said, trying to put on a smile that John assumed was to either impress Christa or gain her admiration.

"Good." Christa said with a nod. "I'm not exactly the best fighter, but I'd like to help where I can."

"Medical knowledge can be just as good as fighting skill." John piped up, resting a reassuring hand on Christa's shoulder as he smiled. "You can't fight if you can't even lift your arm."

"He's right." Armin said with a nod, agreeing with John's words. "I'm not saying you shouldn't try to improve your fighting skills, but maybe you could focus a little more on your medical expertise."

"I wouldn't exactly say I'm an expert." Christa said bashfully, rubbing her arm at the praise. "I only know the basics, but I would like to learn more." She admitted.

"Well, there is that Garrison Hospital in Trost." Armin proposed, bringing a finger to his chin in thought. "If I remember right, they do accept volunteers. Maybe you could learn some stuff there."

"Don't sound like a bad idea, actually." John piped up, a small smile on his face as he looked at Christa. "You could probably learn a whole lot helping the soldiers up there."

Christa averted her gaze, a finger coming up to her chin as she mulled it over for a moment. "I don't know… would they even accept the help?"

Jean took the moment to give his two cents. "If it's the hospital I think you're talking about, they're desperate for the help." He spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "Not enough people want to help out, and since the Garrison has the highest recruit rate because of the limit on MPs and the Scouts being suicidal, some people look at the Garrison Soldiers as easily replacable."

Seeing the serious look on Jean's otherwise lighthearted face was a little off putting, but John shook his head as he glanced down at Christa.

"Well, I think that answers your question." He remarked with a grin, catching the shorter girl's attention. "What could it hurt to try anyway? The worst they can do is say no. Hell, I'll go with you."

"Are you sure?" Christa asked, though she was admittedly thankful for the offer.

John smiled in response, nodding his head in response. "Of course. What's it gonna hurt?"

The two missed the knowing glance both Jean and Armin shared, before the blonde boy turned back towards them and spoke up.

"Just be sure to be back on time." Armin advised, catching their attention. "You know how Shadis is, and I don't think either of you want a headbutt."

The reactions were like night and day, John simply shrugging his shoulders with an uncaring gaze while Christa visibly shuddered at the thought.

"Well, if we're gonna do it, we might wanna do it while we still got some light." John remarked, glancing up at the sky. The sun was still high in the sky, but the walk to and from the Trost District could take quite a bit.

Internally, John mused about the fact that he could make the trip in no time at all, but he didn't voice his thoughts.

"I don't really have anything to gather." Christa admitted as she glanced up at John. "Do you?"

John shook his head. "Nah. Always keep my cash on me, and with the buttons on these pockets, it's not like anything is gonna go flying anywhere." He remarked as he glanced down at her.

"Alright, then I guess we're going on a trip." Christa practically beamed at the thought, and both Armin and Jean had to hide grins and suppress the thought to tease the two.

"I hope everything goes well." Armin wished the two, catching their attention once more.

John nodded in response, a small smile in comparison to Christa's broad grin. "We'll see you two later." He spoke as he and his companion left the two.

Once the two were out of hearing distance, Jean glanced at Armin. "You know those two are gonna get together some time, right?"

"Without a doubt."

LOCATION: Wall Rose: Trost District

Admittedly, walking through Trost was a lot like Shinganshina in John's eyes. People walking through the streets, the hustle and bustle of salesmen making money and customers buying products as the sounds of conversation and discussion was heard.

It seemed to be a common theme in the outlier districts.

But, John figured, it could also be due to the fact that Trost was now a part of the exterior. In the same general direction that Shinganshina faces, Trost faces as well, and now, no single bit of Wall Rose has any protection, any distance from the titans.

Wall Rose was the new Wall Maria… just as susceptible. Nowhere near as big.

And as per usual, just as with anywhere he went, John was getting stares left and right from anyone who saw him.

When he was ten, he resembled a somewhat frail if fairly youthful man. Now, not so much.

At 6'11", and muscular due to his body's adjustment to his abilities, John was now a downright behemoth, towering over just about every person he'd ever met. His height was almost unheard of, downright impossible to just encounter someone his size within the walls.

As such, he was essentially a freak of nature, even without his abilities.

Something he'd come to terms with, and something he'd learned not to really care about.

So despite the stairs, John paid them no mind. Rather, he was focusing on Christa, who had a noticeable skip in her step as they made their way through the streets.

"You seem pretty chipper considering we're going to a hospital." John commented, raising an eyebrow with an amused smile as he eyed Christa.

Christa looked up at him with a bright, beaming smile in response. "When I was a kid, I wasn't allowed to leave the farm that much. Honestly, the most exposure to anything not a farm was when I joined the cadets." She admitted as she looked around at the city where nearly every building looked the same. "I enjoy being able to explore some. Take in the sites."

John chuckled at that, shaking his head in amusement. "Not exactly much to take in for me." He admitted as he looked around. "Shinganshina looks damn near the same as this. Or it did anyway." He realized the joke might've been in poor taste when he saw Christa's face fall slightly.

"I wasn't thinking about that." She admitted, a look of guilty coming onto her face. John waved it off.

"Ah, no problem." He assured her. "Dark humor has always been a thing with me. Make your own light in the dark." He'd been that way ever since… his mom… John shook his head to expel the thought. "Anyway, I'm so used to cities like this that honestly, I prefer the country-side view. Green grass, clear skies, and crystal clear water."

Christa smiled slightly at John's words. "It is a nice view. Although, I think the view of the lake back at the cadets is a better one."

John chuckled once more, nodding his head in agreement. "I suppose so."

Their walk turned into one of relative silence once more, opting to instead focus on making their way to the hospital. Or, at least Christa did.

John however, still had his attention on Christa.

The girl was like a puzzle to John. He didn't doubt that she was genuine in her kindness. In fact, it was one of her best qualities, in his opinion. It's just…

He'd meant many people willing to show kindness in his life. The first to jump into mind was his mother, and right on her heels was Carla Yeager.

But Christa… Christa somehow had them both beat. Christa went out of her way to help people, to the point that she's willing to get in trouble, or at least risk it, to help somebody. It was an amount of kindness John had never seen anyone show.

And then the little blond girl who barely came up to his chest shattered that view, with a gentle nature matched only by her fierce determination to use said nature, even if somebody didn't like it.

At the time, John didn't think much of it, but now that he thought about it, how many people would've actually went out of their way to bring him and Sasha food had they actually ran until sunset? As close as they were, nobody except (very possibly) Mikasa would've done that. Rex and Deacon wouldn't have, Eren wouldn't have, and even if he wanted to… well, as much as John hated to speak of his friend like this, Armin really didn't have the spine to.

Then again, he had the spine to join the cadets and then join the scouts, so… who knows?

But John was getting off topic. As much as he really cared for Christa, there was something about her that simply confounded the behemoth, and he'd find himself mulling over it in his thoughts from time to time.

In the end, however, it really wasn't important. Because the fact of the matter was, Christa was the most gentle soul John had ever met. Even if her very personality could confuse him, John didn't care enough about that to really try and bug her about it. In John's opinion, it really wasn't even worth talking about in the first place.

Time passed by quickly, not that there was much more time to begin with, and the two found themselves approaching the hospital that was their destination. The large banners with the Garrison symbol emblazoned on them made the focus of the hospital blatantly obvious, not to mention the stands set outside offering signups for any volunteers being manned by Garrison soldiers.

Christa almost immediately ran up to one of the stands, causing John to smile at her excitement as he moved to follow at a more reserved pace.

Despite how quickly Christa made it to the stands, the eyes of the soldiers almost immediately flew to John, as well as those of the soldiers at the other stands, every single one of them staring at him with varying degrees of shock and disbelief. At this point, the wide eyes and dropped jaws were comical in John's opinion.

"Hi!" Christa voice bounced them out of their stupor, somewhat anyway. "Are you still accepting volunteers here?"

It took a few moments for the two soldiers, a taller woman with almost red-looking hair tied into a bun, and a guy of similar height with a buzzcut like Connie, albeit with black hair.

"Yeah." The guy answered, turning to look at Christa with an almost hopeful glance. "Why? are you looking to volunteer?"

"Yeah." Christa nodded her head quickly. "I'm wanting to learn more about medical practices in order to help my comrades." She explained as John finally made it up to stand next to her. "A friend of mine recommended I try here."

"Well, we won't say no to help." The woman admitted with a sigh, rubbing her temples with one hand as she looked at Christa with an almost exhausted expression. "We've been overloaded lately, and we really don't have the staff to maintain at the moment."

"That's horrible." Christa said in response. The fact that there wasn't enough staff to help support a hospital properly, military or not, honestly broke the girl's heart. It ate at her, honestly, that fact that this hospital could get to the point in the first place.

"How bad off are you?" John spoke up for the first time since they arrived, raising an eyebrow. It was a military hospital. For the Garrison.

They couldn't be that bad off, right?

"The last Scouts expedition was about a week ago." The guy spoke up after a few moments of simply staring in disbelief at John once more, before composing himself. "It's the Garrison's job to clear titans away from the gate so they can depart, and the last one didn't go as well. We lost three people, and god knows how many are injured right now, including some of our own staff unfortunately."

John's eyes widened in surprise at the news. He hadn't expected that.

"Well, I'm willing to help however I can when I'm not training." Christa immediately volunteered, the same determined look John had grown to appreciate crossing her face as she spoke. "Do I just need to fill out a paper?"

The girl nodded, passing a paper to Christa and passing her a quill so that she could fill it out. "We really appreciate it."

As Christa set to work filling out the paper without even moving, John found himself backing up a little to better get a view of the hospital.

It looked well maintained, but then again, any hospital needed to be, especially a military one. And inside were a bunch of hurting or sick people. And not enough good people trying to help them.

In a way, it reminded John of life just after the fall of Wall Maria, when they were forced to stay in shacks and barns and such with little food outside of when the Vastatas pitched in to help since they were able to maintain most of their wealth and little to no real medical facilities.

He remembered the struggles for all of them, how every single one of them struggled in some way.

And in many ways… Some of his loved ones still struggle to this day, himself included.

"You know what, fuck it." John muttered to himself before marching back up to the stand. "You know what, pass me one of those papers."

At that, the two soldiers stationed at the stand to look at each other, and even Christa paused filling her own out to look at John in surprise.

"Are you serious?" The guy asked, looking wide-eyed at the behemoth in front of him. He had absolutely not expected that whatsoever.

"You need all the help you can get, right?" John asked with a raised eyebrow. "People in there need help, and if I can help, why not?" He reasoned with a shrug. Admittedly, he made it sound more like an on-a-whim decision than it actually was, but they didn't have to know that.

"I didn't think you'd volunteer too." Christa admitted, tilting her head in that way that made her look so much more adorable, her large blue eyes looking up at John in confusion.

In response, John merely smirked. "What, am I not allowed to?" He asked as he took the paper and pen being passed silently to him from the female soldier with looking at Christa before setting to work.

At that, Christa was visibly flushed. "N-now I didn't say that." She spoke quietly as she turned her focus back on filling out her paper in order to finish it. John merely chuckled in response as he began filling out his own.

In no time at all, the papers were filled out and passed back to the woman, who handed them to her partner. The man stood to his feet and immediately made his way into the hospital, leaving the woman alone for the time-being.

"Since you're just volunteers, you won't have schedules or obligations." The woman explained to them, causing the two to focus their attention back on her. "You can come in and help whenever you like, as long as you stop at the front desk to inform the staff on duty that you're here."

Christa nodded vigorously in response, while John was more reserved as he eyed the hospital once again. Despite the difference in demeanor, both held onto the words.

"You won't be able to start today, unfortunately, as we have to copy down the information you gave us," The woman added. "From tomorrow on, it's entirely your choice."

"Got it." Christa said once more, that same look of determination written on her face.

"I don't know how often we'll be able to come up, since we're still training." John admitted as his gaze lingered on the hospital, before he turned to look at the woman. "But you can be damn sure we'll be down here when we can."

The woman stared at John for a few moments, more than likely still unused to meeting someone so absolutely massive, but nonetheless, she shook herself from her stupor and nodded her head, giving the two of them a genuine smile. "Well, we appreciate it." She assured them.

"No problem." John assured, before nodding his head in farewell. "Take care. We'll see you another time."

The woman nodded in return, and with that, both John and Christa began walking away from the hospital and down the street.

After they were a fair distance away, Christa turned her gaze up at John. "So, why did you really volunteer?" Christa asked, causing John to look at her in confusion. "I gotten to know you well enough to know that you don't just make decisions like that on a whim."

John shrugged his shoulders in response, giving Christa a small grin. "I told you I'd go with you, didn't I?"

Christa stared at John for a few moments, and the man wondered if she believed him, before she finally smiled up at him.

"You're lying."

That caught John off-guard, causing him to slowly come to a stop and look at Christa with a look of bewilderment.

"Wha… What do you mean?" John couldn't help but to ask, surprised by how blatantly she had called him out.

Christa put her hands on her hips, and raised an eyebrow, looking up at John with a knowing expression. "You said you'd come down here with me. If you intended to volunteer the whole time, you would've gotten a paper at the same time as me." She pointed out. "Also, you tend to just shrug things off when you don't want to discuss it. If that doesn't work, intimidation does."

John opened his mouth to respond, only to slowly close it after a few moments, his eyes slowly widening as he realized that Christa had hit the head of a nail he didn't even think existed. She had picked up on every little thing.

Not even his closest friends had really ever picked up on little details like that, and if they had… well, they hadn't ever said anything.

The girl standing in front of him had suddenly gotten a whole lot more interesting.

After a few moments of staring at her rather smug expression, John chuckled in amusement before looking at Christa. "Alright, you got me." He admitted, nodding his head to gesture for Christa to continue walking as he spoke. "After we lost Wall Maria, there was a time where we were stuck sleeping in repurposed barns and crap." John explained, his face turning to a grim expression as he recounted the experience. "Food, we weren't struggling as much as others thanks to Rex's parents, but in terms of medicine? Too many people needed help. And there weren't enough honest people to help them."

Christa's face fell, a feeling of guilt beginning to gnaw at her as she realized that she'd unintentionally stirred unpleasant memories in her friend. "I'm… I'm sorry…"

John gave her a reassuring smile in response, placing a hand on her shoulder and giving her a surprisingly gentle squeeze. "You didn't know." He said, causing her to meet his gaze. "And besides… it was actually kind of nice, being called out on the bullshit, honestly." He admitted with a slight chuckle as he took his hand away from her.

Christa's brow furrowed in confusion when John said that. "It was nice?"

"Christa, how many people have the balls to really call me out on anything anymore?" John couldn't help but to ask her in response. "Hell, even my own friends would rather leave me be, than confront me half the time. In case you haven't noticed… my temper isn't the best." John's expression faded to one of shame as he outright admitted his one fault that was blatantly obvious among the 104th.

Christa could admit that he wasn't wrong. If the beating he'd given Deacon, one of his best friends, and Connie were any indication, John's temper was far from under control.

But he admitted it. Better yet, he makes no excuses for it, and he tries to make up for it. One thing Christa had noticed was that John was extremely helpful to his comrades. There was a reason that he was considered one of the big brothers of the 104th, not just Reiner.

She found herself studying him more than she'd planned to at that moment. The look of guilt and shame at the mention of his less than stellar temper told her that he really did not wish to be seen as some brute. And something told her that was a wish that he didn't get often.

If his own loved ones were hesitant to call him out on his excuses, even if he wouldn't get mad… how isolated did John truly feel?

They had similar experiences on the opposite ends of the spectrum, after all. She was the shortest person of their squad, while John was probably the biggest person in the walls. The difference being that not only was John far more intimidating than he could ever be, but that he always drew attention to himself, while Christa was far less noticeable.

How often did John get to feel normal?

That was when Christa had an idea.

She remembered the view of the lake they'd had back at the bootcamp while they were leaving the barn. It had been a nice view, and John had said that he enjoyed the countryside views.

With a smile on her face as her plan formed itself in her head, she turned to look up at John as they walked. "Do you know where any waterfalls are?"

At that, John looked down at her with an expression of confusion. "Waterfalls?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I want to see one, and we have the time, don't we?"

John continued to eye Christa for a moment, and he couldn't spot any sort of deception upon her person, no tells that she meant anything other than what she said. Still, the question remained: why such a spur in the moment idea?

"Um… if I remember right, there's a small forest not too far from here." John said, turning his gaze back ahead. "Once we hit the gate, take the road away from the boot camp, and then it's about a two minute walk away off the track."

Christa visibly grinned when he spoke, and he found himself caught off-guard when her small, gentle hand snagged his own larger one as she took off like a bullet, John finding himself moving to keep up with so that she didn't hurt herself by accident.

"Jeez, are you that excited to see a waterfall?" John couldn't help but ask with a small smile. A smile which only grew with the vigorous nod he got in response.

"Yep!" Christa said with a tone of excitement in her voice.

John merely chuckled as he let Christa pull him. This girl really was a goddess. A really cute one too.

There was an air of innocence about her, a childlike curiosity that she seemed to hold towards… well, almost anything not involved with the Cadets. It honestly made John wonder if she loved the beauty of the world that much, or if she was just an extremely sheltered child.

Nonetheless, even if it was for different reasons than the rest of the boys in the 104th, John found himself compelled to satisfy her every whim to the best of ability. If that meant letting her four foot frame drag the seven hundred pounds that was John Gallagher around…

Well, what could it hurt?

LOCATION: Wall Rose: Forest Outside of Trost

John found himself astounded by just how much energy Christa seemed to have. Was she really that excited, or did she have that much energy naturally?

John himself was one thing. He possessed an inhuman amount of stamina in order for his body to support its immense muscle density, plus his regeneration. It made sense, even if the fact that he had these abilities at all really didn't.

However, Christa had managed to tug John the entire distance. All the way from Trost to the forest, while running. And not once did she stop to take a breather, or show any ounce of fatigue.

Then again, with the rigorous training they were put through in the cadets, maybe she had more stamina than John thought

Regardless, once they actually made it to the forest, only then did Christa slow to a stop. Allowing her hand to lose it's grip on his own, the short girl turned her gaze to John with a smile.

"How far do we go before we head into the woods?" Christa asked, practically bouncing with excitement, causing John to let out yet another amused chuckle before nodding his head in a gesture to follow.

"Come on." He said as he began making his way down the path, Christa hot on his heels.

With only the sound of their boots hitting the ground with every footstep, silence had fallen upon them yet again. It was a comfortable one, the two content to simply be in the other's presence as they made their way through the forest.

As she followed behind him, however, John suddenly veered off the path, pushing a few bushes out of the way as his large frame disappeared into the woods. Christa stared after him for a few moments. Considering the size difference, the bushes were probably tiny in his perspective, but to her, she felt like she'd be crawling between them rather than pushing them out of the way.

A few seconds later, John returned, a sheepish look on his face as he moved the bush out of the way for her.

"Sorry." He apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. "I keep forgetting that I'm a freak of nature."

Christa knew John well enough to know that he was joking, but still, she frowned as she moved past the brush the John was holding, coming to a stop next to him as he let the plant swing back into place.

"You're not a freak of nature, John." She told him, her voice surprisingly stern considering how lighthearted his words were. "You're fine just the way you are."

John found himself stunned by Christa's words. He'd had plenty of people tell him there was nothing wrong with him, it was just his genes, but considering he'd never met another person anywhere near his size, he'd always assumed they were simply trying to make him feel better.

He'd be lying if he said he didn't appreciate their words, but… he wasn't stupid. He was quite possibly the only human being within the walls as big as John himself was. It was hard to believe their words, even if they made him feel a little better.

However, the way Christa said it was different. It wasn't just her trying to make him feel better. She didn't like him talking about himself like that because she truly believed her own words.

It took longer than John would like to admit for him to find his tongue, but when he did, he spoke with a soft, grateful smile.

"Thanks, Christa." He expressed his gratitude. "I appreciate it."

"You shouldn't have to appreciate the truth." Christa muttered under her breath, before shaking her head and looking back up at John with a smile. "So, where's this waterfall?"

At her question, John couldn't help the massive grin that broke out on his face. "Come on." He gestured for her to follow as he began walking deeper into the woods. "You're gonna love this."

Christa followed after him, making sure to stay right behind him, though at a safe enough distance that she didn't accidentally step on his heels. Every few steps, there was more brush that they'd need to pass through, so John would hold them apart and allow her to step under his arm and through the path he'd create, before stepping in front of her.

As the moved, Christa could hear the sound of rushing water, though it didn't really sound like much of a waterfall. If anything, it sounded more like a river.

When they broke through one last bush, she found that her guess was correct. Rather than a majestic waterfall, they came out next to a large river that was running at a relatively fast pace, though she could faintly hear what sounded like a waterfall.

However, rather than stop like she expected, John had continued walking along the stream. Upon realizing that he was still moving whereas she had stopped, Christa quickly rushed to catch up with him.

Their size difference meant that her own jog only closed the distance at a moderate rate compared to John's large strides, but she found herself moving to walk alongside him.

She looked up at John, and she saw an expression that she rarely ever saw on the giant.

A peaceful, contented smile rested on John's expression, looking more relaxed than she could ever remember seeing him as they grew closer to the sound of a waterfall.

She couldn't help but to admit to herself that she'd like to see it again.

Her gaze turned to face forward, and her eyes widened at the site in front of her. From what she could see, the river seemed to run into a massive trench, a large hole ground the turned into what looked like sheer rock and cliffside the moment it turned into a hole.

And when they came upon the edge, Christa felt all her breath leave her in a gasp of amazement.

When John had said that he did indeed know of a waterfall… this wasn't at all what she expected.

The view was absolutely beautiful.

The river fell into the massive gorge below them, crashing against the water at the bottom with a roar that managed to sound almost serene. The cliff sides around the water looked as if they were almost sculpted, completely and utterly smooth stone staring Christa back as she took in the site, the smoothness occasionally broken by surprisingly undamaged flowers poking out through the stones.

"Me and Mikasa found this place one day when we were out gathering up some wood for the winter." John explained, a tone of serenity in his voice as he began telling a story, causing Christa to look up at him. "You could say this is our own little hiding spot. Each and every one of us has something we only share with the other, it seems. Despite our differences, me and Eren share the same determination to escape these walls. We just go about it differently." His gaze fell down to the girl standing next to him, meeting her eyes with his own. "This place has been a place for me or Mikasa to come and just sit. Whether to relax, think, unwind, we always get time to ourselves here."

"You said only you two know about this?" Christa asked, only for confusion to fill her when John shook his head.

"I said this place is special to me and Mikasa, and sure, we've kept it under wraps. But we only bring people we're extremely close to here." John explained as he turned to admire the view once more. "He doesn't really come here much, but Mikasa and I showed Eren since he's our brother."

Christa turned back to admire the view once more, before John's words clicked, and she turned her gaze back up to him, even more confused than before. "If this is only for people your really close to, then why'd you bring me here when I asked?"

At that, John simply smiled down at Christa. "Why not?" He shrugged. "You asked, and it's not like you're gonna run back blabbering about it."

He was doing it again. He was hiding the real reason, and Christa made it clear that she noticed when she turned to face him fully, crossing her arms as she frowned at him.

After a few moments, John noticed the look on Christa's face, and he sighed.

"Didn't buy it?"

"Nope."

John let out a sigh, before shaking his head, an amused chuckle escaping past his lips. "Fine. The truth is… there's something about you." He admitted, turning his gaze back onto her. "I don't really know what it is. I've always made friends easily when I actually try, but considering how many assholes there are, I don't exactly try that much. The only reason I sat down with you during our first day was because you were by yourself, and we were gonna get to know each other anyway."

"What's that have to do with anything?" Christa asked with a raised brow.

"How about the fact that I find myself coming back to you?" John retorted with a raised eyebrow of his own, grinning slightly as he said it. "I'm always willing to help, but there's something about you that just draws me in, I guess. Usually, people come to me for help. I'll offer occasionally, but I go out of my way to be there for you like I do for my family." The behemoth admitted as he turned his gaze back out to the gorge. "Honestly, up until you asked, I wasn't actually planning to ever show you this. But then it just slipped out when you asked back in Trost, and I didn't think anything of it. That tells me that we're closer than either of us think."

Christa found herself stunned at his admission. She was genuinely unsure of how to respond to any of that. John… John hadn't just been her first friend in the cadets; he'd been the first real friend she'd ever had in her life.

All her life, growing up on the farm as Historia, she'd always been bullied by other kids, and it always felt her family hated her. Her own mother had outright expressed disgust with her existence.

But then… Everything happened, and she found herself in the Cadets with the goal to join the the Scouts, and this massive behemoth of a boy had befriended her, more than he'd ever intended to. John had brought her into his family almost, gave her friends in the form of all of his own. Mikasa, Eren, Armin, Rex, Deacon… and Mikasa had led to friendships with Sasha and Mina.

Sure, she had Ymir, but her and Ymir had many more differences that made it hard to get along sometimes. John had given her more friends than just himself, but it was his own actions that had even led to her feeling even remotely normal for the first time in her life.

Despite joining the military, John had given her something no one else had before: a feeling of normalcy.

She'd never really thought much about it before, but now that it was essentially laid out in front of her, she realized John had given her something she'd craved for most of her life.

He made her feel like the normal girl she'd always wished she could be. Despite being almost unnaturally large, John was the first person to treat her like a normal girl rather than some freak.

Though she was unsure if John actually realized it, he had done more for her than she ever could've imagined, to the point where the mask she'd unintentionally set over herself would slip without either of them realizing it in his presence.

She'd wanted her life to actually mean something to someone… and for the first time in her life, she felt like she didn't need to die to achieve that.

Who'd have thought? The one thing Historia had longed for, wished for, craved for her entire life… and she'd found in the form of a guy who came across as anything but normal at first glance.

"Historia." Christa suddenly said before she could stop herself, or even process her thought.

"Hmm?" John asked, barely glancing over at her at the seemingly random and nonsensical name that he'd never heard before.

"My name." Christa, or rather, Historia, clarified as she looked up at John with a gentle smile. "My real name is Historia. Historia Reiss."

"Historia?" John turned his head to face her more directly, smiling slightly as he did so, though his brow was visibly furrowed in confusion. "Why hide your real name?"

Almost immediately, images flashed through the girl's mind. Horrible and horrific images that pretty much ended the already abysmal life she had on the farm. A man with a scruffy beard holding a knife to her mother's throat as she begged for her life, while the man who claimed to be her father denied any involvement with her or her mother.

"I'd… rather not talk about it." Historia admitted, hugging herself as the memories flashed through her mind.

John stared at Historia for a moment, before shrugging and allowing one hand to come to rest on her back, his large hand rubbing comforting circles in an effort to make her feel better. "That's fine with me. Not my business." He assured her with a smile. Then, he grinned. "Besides, I think I prefer Christa anyway."

At that, Historia looked up at him in confusion. "You do? Why?"

John once again shrugged, his grin switching back to an amused smile as he raised an eyebrow. "I'm just used to it. Besides, I'd rather keep calling you that so that I don't make a habit of calling you Historia. I could fuck up and accidently slip in front of somebody."

The fact that John even thought about that kind of thing upon learning her name, rather than wondering why she wanted to keep it a secret… that told Historia even more about the kind of person he was.

And she couldn't help it.

Despite not feeling any real impact, John let out a grunt when Historia suddenly wrapped her arms around his midsection as best as she could, pulling him into a hug that caught the giant off-guard.

"Christa?" John couldn't help but ask, using the name he was more familiar with. She started shaking, causing concern to well up in the behemoth as he gently placed his large hands upon her shoulders, nearly engulfing her.

And then he heard it. The hitch in her voice, the hiccups… the sobs…

Historia was crying.

"A-All m-my l-life…" Historia began speaking as best as she could with the sobs forcing themselves out of her body. They weren't really cries of anguish, so much as cries of relief, of joy, as she spoke. "I-I was always t-treated d-different." She admitted, burying her head into his stomach. "O-Other kids would th-throw rocks at m-me… my m-mother hate m-me…" She whimpered as she recalled the memories of her life before the cadets.

"Aw, Historia…" John allowed himself to use her real name as he wrapped his arms around her much smaller frame, trying to provide as much comfort to the girl as he could with his presence alone.

"Y-You… you made me feel normal…" Historia admitted quietly between the sobs escaping her. "You aren't j-just my first f-friend in the cadets." She found herself hugging him tighter, not wanting to let him go at the moment. She wanted to hug as much of him as she possibly could, simply because he was there. "Y-you're the first friend I ever had…"

John found his entire view of Historia flipping on its head. He'd have never imagined the seemingly joyful soul he'd befriended carried so much pain, so much trauma. It had never occurred to him that a seemingly simple decision to sit and talk to her had been one of the best moments of her life.

"Well… I ain't going anywhere, Historia." John decided to break the promise he'd made moments ago. Just this once. "I ain't like those kids you knew. You're a good person, a genuinely good person, and you'll have me for a long time."

Despite her tears, Historia found herself smiling. "Th-thank you…" She whispered softly, thought the giant still managed to hear it over the sound of the waterfall. "Thank you…"

John allowed himself to smile as his hug turned firmer, and yet, so much more comforting to the girl in his arms. "Anytime."

One thing was for sure… neither of them had realized the doors this moment had opened up for them.

And in that moment, above the beautiful view of a waterfall, two tortured souls found solace in the bond they'd formed. A bond that had only strengthened.

A/N: And that's the chapter. Damn, that took a helluva lot longer to write than I'd anticipated. This chapter was supposed to simply be the start of the Hospital arc, which is admittedly heavily based upon Christa's daily life storyline in the Attack on Titan 2 video game. However, I encountered severe writer's block multiple times while writing this chapter, and it ended up becoming more than just the start of an arc. It became a key chapter in John and Historia's relationship, as she revealed her real name to him.

My decision to have John continue to refer to her as Christa, even when they are by themselves, comes from my belief that Historia's "mask" as Christa wasn't as much of a mask as she'd made it out to be. Even though I want Historia to still develop within the story, I'm doing it from an angle where she doesn't seemingly change into a completely different person. Basically, I want to merge the two personas into one character.

Also, I should probably clarify something in my story sooner rather than later: Ymir is bisexual in my story. While ninety percent of the fandom has seemingly decided the Ymir is a lesbian, there's no actual confirmation that this is the case in any canon material. We get a remark from Reiner, but that's not really enough to confirm anything. The only thing we really know is that she is sexually attracted to girls, not that she is exclusively attracted to girls.

Besides, it's fanfiction. Make your own canon.

Anyway, that's all, and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'll see you in the next one.